A grist-mill built by Josiah Cushman about 1834 formed the nucleus around which a small community of Amish Mennonites and recent German immigrants developed. A village plot was surveyed in 1845 and, six years later, a post office, New Hamburg, was established with William Scott, an early mill-owner, as postmaster. By then, the village, with a population of 500, contained several prosperous industries, including a pottery, and the carriage-works and foundry of Samuel Merner, a prominent Swiss-born entrepreneur. The construction of the Grand Trunk Railway, completed in 1856, and agricultural prosperity stimulated the community's development as an important centre for milling and farm machinery production. New Hamburg was incorporated as a village, with about 1,100 inhabitants, in 1857 and as a town in 1966.

Location

On the grounds of the municipal building, 121 Huron Street, New Hamburg

Themes

• Agriculture
• Communities
• Religion
• Transportation systems and communications